back to back
by QueenPersephoneofHades
Summary: Critical Role: She really needed to stop worrying for no reason. Written for Day 22 of Tumblr's 2018 Whumptober.


He has barely a moment to register the faint whistling sound coming from behind him.

It doesn't register fast enough, because he is right in the thick of things as he usually is, two daggers twirling between his fingers where they belong, a whirl of blood left in his wake as he deals with these nasty little creatures who'd been trying to flank around the rest of Vox Machina while they were engaged with an ogre some fifty yards away. The dying screeches and frenzied shouting his work was eliciting from the goblins was enough to cover up the sound until it was nearly too late; luckily, he still has someone watching his back for this exact scenario.

"VAX!" Vex's voice rises over the din in a piercing shriek.

His entire body jerks instinctually at the sound of his sister's distress, spinning away from a goblin corpse to scan the trees where he'd last seen her. He doesn't catch sight of her in time before she screams again, "GET DOWN!"

It is his total trust in her that likely saves his life; he ducks and rolls before the frantic order has completely registered in his mind, diving away from the remaining pack of goblins that had finally caught sight of him now that he was no longer slipping in between them slitting their throats.

The whistling he'd only just heard suddenly rises in pitch and intensity before becoming a cacophonous _boom_ that rattled the earth under Vax's body. He felt a rush of heat wash over his back and quickly rolled away again, not wanting to risk getting caught in whatever it was that had just incinerated the remaining goblins he'd been dealing with.

He pops back to his feet several feet away from a smoldering crater, dagger flashing into one hand while the other shoved his long, disheveled hair out of his face as he scanned their surroundings for new enemies.

The party seems okay from where he is; the ogre's mighty carcass is strewn beside the road like some disgusting new tourist attraction, and no one is bleeding or screaming from what he can tell, but they also don't seem to be on the alert, so where did-

A flurry of footsteps crunched across the gravel as Vex appeared from the trees she'd been shooting from, Trinket a lumbering shadow just over her shoulder. Vax stiffens even though he is still plenty far away; his twin's expression is full of pure murder.

He's almost afraid to approach her when she's in a mood like this, but when she comes to a halt in the middle of their party, face twisted into a sneer, he knows he has to intervene before she says something she will regret.

Vax hurries back up the road to where Vox Machina is congregated, and winces as Vex's voice rises above the others' in a shout. "-kind of moron are you, huh?! You don't just set off a fireball that close to my brother!"

Her hands are planted on her hips, dark eyes sparking with rage as she glared up into their dragonborn sorcerer's face as if he wasn't a full head taller than her and could breathe fire.

Tiberius splutters in the face of her anger, holding up one clawed hand to ward her away as if that could actually stop her. "Now, Vex, he was never in any real danger; you saw how quickly he got away!"

"Once I warned him!" Vex retorted, slapping the great scaled appendage away from her with one impatient hand. "If I hadn't been keeping an eye on him, he would be a scorch on the ground and I would be _killing_ you right now! Don't _ever-!_ "

She took another step forward, Tiberius straightened up with an indignant twist of his brows, and Vax finally stepped between them, gently encircling his sister's waist with one arm as he waved Tiberius back calmly.

"Hey, hey! No need for dramatic tension! I'm right here, and I'm fine! No harm done!"

It's the wrong thing to say, apparently; Vex's glare is just as angry pointed at him, and it makes Vax's spine quiver. His sister could use her eyes as weapons better than her bow, sometimes.

Tiberius snorted and muttered something that probably wasn't flattering under his breath in draconic, but the rest of the party seemed to have finally gathered their wits; Keyleth swept forward with a cheer, quickly herding the sorcerer away with her voice going a mile a minute, while Grog started calling for Vex, proclaiming to have found some 'shiny things' on the ogre's corpse.

"You really okay, Vax?" asked Pike, coming up on his other side with a concerned cleric frown, and he gives her a thumbs up in response, which makes her roll her eyes.

Vex starts to slip away from his grip, heading for Grog's enthusiastic shouts, and he catches her hand, chancing a look into her eyes.

"I'm alright, Stubby," he assures her, but the ice in her eyes does not melt.

Her hand squeezes his, hard. "If he tries that again I'll skin him alive," she says simply, before stalking away in a huff, Trinket making concerned bear noises as he followed her.

Vax watches her go, and tries to ignore the familiar stinging ache of a burn running down his side.

She really needed to stop worrying for no reason.

* * *

 **A/N: I never did like Tiberius' tendency to use big spells while others were nearby.  
~Persephone**


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